Master’s Degree in Comparative International Relations Final Thesis South Korea and the Lack of Protection of LGBTI Rights Supervisor Prof. Sara De Vido Assistant supervisor Prof. Rosa Caroli Graduand Beatrice Baglio Matriculation number 870775 Academic Year 2018/2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In primis, vorrei ringraziare la Prof.ssa Sara De Vido e la Prof.ssa Rosa Caroli, rispettivamente la mia relatrice e correlatrice, che durante la stesura di questa tesi mi hanno aiutata e consigliata. Ringrazio anche la mia famiglia che, in questi 5 anni, mi ha supportata (e, aggiungerei, sopportata) come meglio ha potuto. Se sono riuscita a laurearmi e a raggiungere così tanti traguardi è anche grazie a loro. Un ringraziamento speciale va ai miei due nipoti, Samuele e Rebecca che, a modo loro, mi hanno spronata a finire questa tesi. Un ringraziamento speciale va anche all’Ambasciatore Failla, al Consigliere Rizzo, al Consigliere Sordini, alla Prima Segretaria la dott.ssa Romanova, e a tutti i funzionari dell’Ambasciata d’Italia a Seoul che, non solo mi hanno accolta e mi hanno permesso di vivere una grande esperienza formativa, ma mi hanno anche aiutata nelle fasi iniziali di ricerca per questo elaborato. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................. I ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ V INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 1: SOCIETY, HOMOSEXUALITY AND LGBTI MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH KOREA .............................................................................................................. 7 1.Homosexuality in South Korea .............................................................................. 9 1.1Confucianism and homosexuality: Hostility or Manipulation of the Doctrine? ................. 9 1.2Homosexuality and Korean Protestant Christianity ......................................................... 19 1.3Queer Representation in Korean Newspapers, Movies and Pop Music .......................... 31 2.Of Bars and Communities: The Rise of LGBTI Communities and ACtivism in South Korea ..................................................................................................................... 40 2.1The Beginning of Democratization and the Creation of the First LGBTI Groups .............. 40 2.2The Second Half of the 1990s: University Organizations, Online Communities and Protests ................................................................................................................................ 43 2.3The Early 2000s: Pride Parades, The Anti-discrimination Act and The Youth Protection Act ................................................................................................................................ 46 CHAPTER 2: LGBTI RIGHTS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW ........................................ 53 1.The Evolution of LGBTI Rights in International Law: The Prohibition of Discrimination on the Grounds of Sexual Orientation and the Right to Private Life . 53 1.1LGBTI Rights in the UN System ......................................................................................... 55 1.2LGBTI Rights in the European Court of Human Rights ..................................................... 62 1.3LGBTI Rights in the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights ................. 69 1.4LGBTI Rights in the ASEAN ............................................................................................... 73 2The Yogyakarta PrinCiples ..................................................................................... 75 3The Violation of LGBTI Rights ................................................................................ 82 3.1Right to life ....................................................................................................................... 82 3.2Torture and ill-treatment ................................................................................................. 87 3.4Arbitrary deprivation of liberty ........................................................................................ 91 3.1Rights of freedom of expression, assembly and association ........................................... 95 CHAPTER 3: VIOLATIONS OF LGBTI RIGHTS IN SOUTH KOREA ........................ 103 1.LGBTI and Civil Rights: ReCognition of Non-Heterosexual Couples, Freedom of Association, and Legal Gender ReCognition .......................................................... 104 1.1The recognition of same-sex couples ............................................................................. 104 1.2Queer People and Freedom of Expression and Association .......................................... 108 1.3Trans people, Legal Gender Recognition and Forced Sterilization ................................ 113 2.Queering Youth: Sex Education, DisCrimination and Bullying in Korean Education System ................................................................................................................. 119 2.1Sexual Education in Schools ........................................................................................... 119 2.2Bullying of LGBTI Youth, Conservative Opposition and the Revision of Textbooks ....... 121 3.LGBTI people and the Right to Health: Discrimination of HIV/AIDS Positive Patients and Conversion Therapies ....................................................................... 129 3.1Mistreatment of HIV/AIDS Positive Patients .................................................................. 129 3.3LGBTI and the right to health: conversion therapies ..................................................... 133 4.LGBTI People and the Military: The crime of “Indecent Acts” ............................. 135 5.The South Korean Constitutional Court and the ProteCtion of Human Rights ..... 140 5.1The South Korean Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights: Transjudicial Communication as a Tool for the Promotion of LGBTI Rights ....................... 140 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 147 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................. 155 JURISPRUDENCE ........................................................................................... 163 INTERNATIONAL CHARTERS AND CONVENTIONS .......................................... 166 WEBSITES ..................................................................................................... 167 I TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS ACHR: American Convention on Human Rights ASEAN: Association of Southeast Asian Nations CCK: Christian Council of Korea CEDAW: Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women CFREU: Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union CRC: Convention on the Right of the Child ECHR: European Convention on Human Rights ECtHR: European Court of Human Rights ECOSOC: United Nations Economic and Social Council IACHR: Inter-American Commission of Human Rights IACtHR: Inter-American Court of Human Rights ICCPR: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ILGA: International Lesbian and Gay Association LGBTI: Lesbian, Gay, Transsexual, Intersex MMA: Military Manpower Administration NHRCK: National Human Rights Commission of Korea OAS: Organization of American States SOGI: Sexual Orientation and Gender identity STD: Sexually Transmittable Disease TEC: Treaty Establishing the European Community UDHR: Universal Declaration of Human Rights II UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNHRC: United Nations Human Rights Commission WGAD: Working Group on Arbitrary Detention YP: Yogyakarta principles YP+10: Yogyakarta Principles Plus 10 V ABSTRACT Così come si evince dal titolo “South Korea and the Lack of Protection of LGBTI Rights”, questa tesi verterà sull’analisi della mancata protezione dei diritti delle minoranze sessuali in Corea del Sud. Nel primo capitolo, la tesi si concentrerà sull’analizzare il rapporto tra tre elementi che esercitano grande influenza sulla società coreana e l’omosessualità. In particolare, il primo capitolo si concentrerà sul confucianesimo, il protestantesimo e la rappresentazione queer nei media, il cinema e nella così detta “hallyu”. In particolare, il focus sul confucianesimo e sul protestantesimo sarà di particolare importanza per capire, almeno in parte, le origini del disinteresse che la società coreana sembra avere nei confronti della sua comunità LGBTI. Confucianesimo e protestantesimo esercitano infatti una grande influenza sulla società coreana. In particolare, alcune delle tradizioni confuciane riguardanti il rispetto della gerarchia sono ancora mantenute in alcuni dei comportamenti sociali che è possibile osservare in Corea. Oltre che alla gerarchia, il confucianesimo dà anche grande importanza alla pietà filiale, all’unione familiare e ai ruoli, ben distinti, tra uomo e donna. In particolare, l’importanza della famiglia e dei ruoli di genere accomunano confucianesimo e protestantesimo che, con il suo arrivo nel Paese nel XIX secolo, ha rafforzato tali valori. Come si osserverà in maniera più dettagliata nella tesi, nonostante le sue rigide regole, il Confucianesimo non condanna aspramente l’omosessualità, risultando quindi essere meno intollerante rispetto